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So I'm having a frustrating time with piano right now. I'm working on three pieces, and in all three of them, I seem to be very slowly and monotonously playing the same 4 or 5 measures over and over and over again and making very little progress. I've been through ruts before, and I know it will eventually get better, but I sure do wish that breakthrough would come soon because it's definitely no fun while you're stuck here like this.

Not exactly a breakthrough, but I did finally get Hava Nagila passable. I got it to the point that it's starting to sound decent, that it's almost fun to play (I do like the tune!), but I still slow down a little bit and make a few errors in the 6ths. Maybe I'm too critical of myself, or maybe my teacher is being lenient...either way, she complemented me on it and said for us to move on. She assigned the Space Shuttle Blues, played it for me to give me an idea of what it should sound like, and gave me a few quick pointers to get me started on it, but we didn't have time during the lesson for me to attempt to play it.

The Gounad prelude is coming together. I'm still struggling with it for sure, but I feel like I'm making progress at least. My teacher was lavish with praise and said it sounded wonderful. I still think she's very forgiving LOL. She gave me some pointers on improving the sound, adding some more pedal, etc. And my Bach Polonaise is getting a little better, but still hanging up in those same 4 measures. My teacher today suggested that memorizing the piece would improve it, so I'll be working on that this week.

I just started reading the level 1 thread from the very begining. Interestingly, there was one post mentioning level 2 book is easier than level 1... I'd like to hear your experience... Thanks!

Welcome to the book 2 thread!

No, Book 2 is not easier per se. If I remember correctly, the last two or three pieces in Book 1 are really hard (Amazing Grace and The Entertainer were the tough ones for me, IIRC) and the first few pieces in Book 2 seem overly easy, but Book 2 soon picks back up to an appropriate (IMO) level of difficulty.

The pieces in Book 2 are, unfortunately, (IMO) less interesting than and not as fun to play as Book 1. But I'm trusting the process, and trusting my teacher, and I feel like I am slowly but surely making progress

I just started reading the level 1 thread from the very begining. Interestingly, there was one post mentioning level 2 book is easier than level 1... I'd like to hear your experience... Thanks!

Hi Wish4 Thing,

The pieces in Book#2 definitely took me more time. In book#1 I had an average "speed" of one piece/week. For book#2 it was more like 10-14 days per piece. I also agree with gahdzilla that the last songs in book#1 were standing out as more difficult (but also as the best sounding ones).

Hi gahdzila,

Many thanks for the welcome!

I've made good progress with the "The Marriage Of Figaro" which is easier than "Love's Greeting". The lack of pedal use feels strangely wrong to my foot now. In any case, the count down to book#3 has started. I am also trying to review some theory (circle of fifths etc.) and hope to finally memorize those ledger lines notes, which is hard if no one pushes you. Am I the only one who still struggles with naming the ledger lines without using familiar, non-ledger reference points?

Am I the only one who still struggles with naming the ledger lines without using familiar, non-ledger reference points?

No sir, you are not!

Oddly enough, I'm finally becoming somewhat comfortable down to the first C below the bass staff, and up to the first C above the treble staff, but still have to scratch my head with some of those in between ones around middle C. The Gounad prelude I'm working on is FULL of left hand chords up to G above middle C, on ledger lines above the bass clef staff, so I'm getting lots of practice on them now!

I've given up on learning it "on the go". I now memorize one note per day and try to suppress all higher brain activity while doing it (but I do "review" the notes that I've learned already). I've started with the bass staff and work my way down from the F to the G. Repeating this for the other parts I should be done in 4x7 days.

I had a little crisis at home and took 2 weeks off from lessons and practicing, but I'm back at it now.

Either I hate to play the blues or Alfred's really really really sucks at the blues. Seems like every bluesy piece in Alfred's is just pure torture for me. I seem to remember there being two or three in a row in Book 1 that were horrible. I'm muddling through Space Shuttle Blues but should have it passable by my lesson this Thursday (I hope!).

I had a little crisis at home and took 2 weeks off from lessons and practicing, but I'm back at it now.

Either I hate to play the blues or Alfred's really really really sucks at the blues. Seems like every bluesy piece in Alfred's is just pure torture for me. I seem to remember there being two or three in a row in Book 1 that were horrible. I'm muddling through Space Shuttle Blues but should have it passable by my lesson this Thursday (I hope!).

Glad you're back at the piano (I almost typed "paino" and yes, sometimes it is a pain-o).

Yeah, 'Space Shuttle Blues' is kind of lame. I didn't spend a whole heck of a lot of time on it.

However, I really like 'Swinging Sevenths' (p. 93, so you should be coming up on it soon). Swinging Sevenths is quite adaptable to various dynamics and tempo and, IMO, one of the more fun ones to play.

I enjoyed Space Shuttle Blues too. I actually have enjoyed all of the blues pieces in both book 1 and 2. It just goes to show that how we view each piece is a matter of personal preference and how our tastes fit in. What one person likes another doesn't. I hated the Etude and couldn't wait to get past it but others have expressed a liking to it.

I have a lesson tomorrow and am pretty sure I'll get passed on Arkansas Traveler. Have a bit more polishing to do on Theme From Musetta's Waltz and Battle Hymn of the Republic. My supplemental piece is currently a Beatles hit, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away.

I'm also taking a stab at learning to play the Ukulele. It's easy to carry around the house and play around with anytime the mood strikes. I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the things I've learned from piano are translatable to the Uke. Scales, chords, and general theory, etc.. Makes the learning curve easier.

My teacher played the next piece in the book, Olympic Procession, and said "this thing is HORRIBLE. We'll skip it." So I started on "Aloha Farewell to Thee"...which should be finished in a week I think. Two at the most. Time will tell!

As for my other stuff (which, honestly, I'm enjoying much much more than the alfreds stuff), Bach's Polonaise in g Minor ANH 125 is all done! Well...IMO, it's not performance ready. But done enough that it's reached that point of diminishing returns and my teacher suggested we drop it and move on to something else. I like the piece, so I think I'll continue to practice it at least a few times a week. Actually, I really like all of the Bach I've played so far. I probably wouldn't listen to Bach solo piano music if it came on the radio or anything...but....I dunno, it just feels nice under my fingers to play it, if that makes any sense. Anyway, my teacher either likes Bach as well or has picked up on the fact that I like it, because we haven't discussed it, but she tosses me a new Bach piece every time we finish one. I'm starting on Prelude No. 1 in C major. Our lesson was running short, so she played it for me, and gave me the music to start on at home on my own. So...either this piece is gonna be pretty easy or I'm looking at it with rose colored glasses or something. The rhythm seemed funky at first glance, but once I sat down and started pounding it out, it came together quite easily! I can actually sight read the whole thing HT, although very slowly and with a few mistakes here and there.

The Gounad prelude is coming together nicely. Working on building a little more speed this week.

My teacher played the next piece in the book, Olympic Procession, and said "this thing is HORRIBLE. We'll skip it." So I started on "Aloha Farewell to Thee"...which should be finished in a week I think. Two at the most. Time will tell!

As for my other stuff (which, honestly, I'm enjoying much much more than the alfreds stuff), Bach's Polonaise in g Minor ANH 125 is all done! Well...IMO, it's not performance ready. But done enough that it's reached that point of diminishing returns and my teacher suggested we drop it and move on to something else. I like the piece, so I think I'll continue to practice it at least a few times a week. Actually, I really like all of the Bach I've played so far. I probably wouldn't listen to Bach solo piano music if it came on the radio or anything...but....I dunno, it just feels nice under my fingers to play it, if that makes any sense. Anyway, my teacher either likes Bach as well or has picked up on the fact that I like it, because we haven't discussed it, but she tosses me a new Bach piece every time we finish one. I'm starting on Prelude No. 1 in C major. Our lesson was running short, so she played it for me, and gave me the music to start on at home on my own. So...either this piece is gonna be pretty easy or I'm looking at it with rose colored glasses or something. The rhythm seemed funky at first glance, but once I sat down and started pounding it out, it came together quite easily! I can actually sight read the whole thing HT, although very slowly and with a few mistakes here and there.

The Gounad prelude is coming together nicely. Working on building a little more speed this week.

Calling book 2 horrible is an understatement. I would relate it to the word horrendous.

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music to me is kind of like putting together pieces of a puzzlei call it the paino because its where i put all my pain

Calling book 2 horrible is an understatement. I would relate it to the word horrendous.

It's not ALL bad...just most of it LOL. It helps me to think of it less as music and more as a lesson. That's really what Alfred's is to me anyway - it's not a music book, it's a lesson book with the lessons in a musical format. It's easier to plod through when I think of each piece as a lesson where I'm learning something specific and then moving forward (and remembering that when I get this LESSON learned, I won't have to play it again!), rather than letting myself think, "I don't like this kind of music" or "this arrangement is HORRIBLE and ruins this song" etc.

I just glanced back through the threads, and noticed that I've been working on book 2 since May of last year! I didn't realize I'd been plodding through book 2 this long. Almost a whole year now, and I'm only maybe halfway through it! And I zipped through Book 1 in like 4 months! Of course, I am concentrating MOSTLY on my supplementary stuff now and I've only been taking one piece from Alfred's at a time now, so that makes a huge difference. I really hope it doesn't take me another whole year to get through the rest of this thing. I think when the time comes, I will request that we not do book 3 at all and just have my teacher keep throwing other classical stuff that I like in front of me.

It's not ALL bad...just most of it LOL. It helps me to think of it less as music and more as a lesson. That's really what Alfred's is to me anyway - it's not a music book, it's a lesson book with the lessons in a musical format. It's easier to plod through when I think of each piece as a lesson where I'm learning something specific and then moving forward (and remembering that when I get this LESSON learned.........

Yes, that's what it is, a lesson book. Each piece has something to teach. Olympic Procession has triplets and some large left hand leaps that are worth mastering. Aloha Oe has arpeggios.

Any of this stuff you can get elsewhere, whether it's in other method books or pieces your teacher chooses for you. But if you don't have a teacher to make those determinations for you, Alfred's AAIO provides instruction that builds within each book and from Books 1 to 2 to 3. It also provides some level-appropriate exposure to various genres (e.g. classical, jazz, folk, etc), which IMO is good early in our piano education. So, yes, Gahdzilla has it right--they are books for learning.

What will you do after Alfred II? How difficult is the Canon in D in comparison to the other songs at the end of the book? I've started Danny Boy last weekend. At first I loved the song but I quickly grew a bit tired of the melody. Still pretty nice ...

Wow, where are all the book 2 peeps? No replies to the thread in 3 weeks!

I don't like polka at all, but Black Forest Polka was easy for me and very very fun to play! Definitely one of my favorite Book 2 pieces so far.

I finished up Pomp and Circumstance last week, and started on Dark Eyes. Playing two different voices with the right hand in these two pieces is giving me fits. Dark Eyes has a very simple and rather uninteresting (to me, anyway) melody...so that makes it hard to make myself practice it....which of course means I'm making progress more slowly...which adds to my frustration LOL.

I am also still working on Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C major (which is getting very good).

And Gounad's Prelude in C minor is memorized and very very good! Good enough that I wouldn't mind playing it for an audience, good enough that my teacher wants to record me playing it and post it on her facebook! This will be my recital piece next month. I've been working on this one for 3 or 4 months now. It's funny to read now the comments I made in this very thread about this piece when I first started on it:

Originally Posted By: gahdzila

I looked over the music and thought there's NO WAY I'm gonna be able to play this

HA!

And now I have started on Mozart's Sonata Facile! Boy is this thing a bugger! Good thing I like the piece because I anticipate I'll be working on it for several months at least.

Hi gahdzila,I agree it's fun (and surprising) to look back like this because it really shows our progress which often looks so infinitesimal (at least to me). I remember watching YouTube videos from book 2 that seemed so far out of my reach and now they are just another song. I think it also shows that "Alfred" is a good book.PS: hope it's not me who causes these "blackouts"

I'm curious, do you guys ever go back to book 1 to play/polish up the songs already learned? I try and play a few favorite pieces everyday from book 1 (between book 2 breaks) because I found if I didn't I'd forget them.

I'm curious, do you guys ever go back to book 1 to play/polish up the songs already learned? I try and play a few favorite pieces everyday from book 1 (between book 2 breaks) because I found if I didn't I'd forget them.

I personally do not as a routine. As I posted above, the Alfred's tunes are more like lessons to me than music I enjoy playing. That said, there's certainly nothing wrong with reviewing them if you enjoy them. My practice time is limited, so I concentrate more on what is important to me.

Just bumping this thread up so that it isn't too far down the list. LOL

I've pretty much shelved AIO 2 for now, and in fact, because of eye problems and hip problems, have been spending a lot less time at the piano than previously. I'm mostly just playing pieces that I already know and like, and not worrying about learning anything new for a while. Enjoying myself with the Pop Songbook and the Greatest Hits.

I've been working on the Chopin Etude in Alfred's for a couple of weeks now. It's coming along, but I seem to be progressing slowly. I know, I always say that....I always seem to move slower than I think I should LOL. But it's excusable this time, at least, as I am really focusing my practice time on my recital piece (Gounad's Prelude in C minor) and just fumbling through the Etude a couple of times a day. This one does seem a step up in difficulty, though. Sifting through some older posts, it sounds like several of you guys struggled with it too.

Etude. This is probably my favorite from the book. It took me a long time to get past hesitations and to get some feeling into it, but I'm glad I've kept at it.

Fascination. Okay, I don't know why I love this one. It's short and either (1) snappy or (2)languid, depending on my mood. I have the original sheet music for this and will probably dig into it one of these days.

Love's Greeting (Salut d' Amor). I did not care for this one that much originally, but I've come to love it, especially as I've improved at playing it. It is, however, very very very humbling to look at the original version and hear it being played. I think it is just gorgeous. The piano score (E major) is towards the bottom of the page and the recording by Felipe Sarro (Piano Society) is near the bottom as well.

Calling book 2 horrible is an understatement. I would relate it to the word horrendous.

It's not ALL bad...just most of it LOL. It helps me to think of it less as music and more as a lesson. That's really what Alfred's is to me anyway - it's not a music book, it's a lesson book with the lessons in a musical format. It's easier to plod through when I think of each piece as a lesson where I'm learning something specific and then moving forward (and remembering that when I get this LESSON learned, I won't have to play it again!), rather than letting myself think, "I don't like this kind of music" or "this arrangement is HORRIBLE and ruins this song" etc.

I just glanced back through the threads, and noticed that I've been working on book 2 since May of last year! I didn't realize I'd been plodding through book 2 this long. Almost a whole year now, and I'm only maybe halfway through it! And I zipped through Book 1 in like 4 months! Of course, I am concentrating MOSTLY on my supplementary stuff now and I've only been taking one piece from Alfred's at a time now, so that makes a huge difference. I really hope it doesn't take me another whole year to get through the rest of this thing. I think when the time comes, I will request that we not do book 3 at all and just have my teacher keep throwing other classical stuff that I like in front of me.

I have been in book 2 for quite some time as well now. I finished book 1 in a few months but this one i believe i started last june. so over a year but i was also working with a teacher supplementary material and other problems as well. just starting back up though to focus on alfred strictly just to get through because it does have some good lessons. i think book 2 was hard for me because it focuses mainly on harmony which is avery intricate complex subject for music.

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music to me is kind of like putting together pieces of a puzzlei call it the paino because its where i put all my pain

I've gone NOWHERE since my last post. My teacher goes on vacation every year for 5 or 6 weeks in June-July, so I've been on my own. I've got Étude pretty much done, I think....it sounds good to me, at least.

I guess I *could* have gone ahead and started working on the next piece in the Alfred's book, but I didn't LOL. Instead, I decided to try my hand at Tchaikovsky's Sick Doll. It's a very simple piece, but it's very dark and moving when played well. I can pretty much sight read it...but it doesn't sound good yet. It's getting better as I get smoother and get the dynamics working better.

I found that after Etude, the book becomes not as much fun.. Perhaps that is because I thought etude is the best piece in the book, and after completing that, there isn't as much to look forward to.. at least until toccata & fugue in book 3 hehehe

Not worried.My teacher is keep me busy with other stuff that is fun and I imagine he will continue to do so. He started me with book 2 because I have a bit of a rag-tag background he wants me to move quickly through a lot of music.

Anyway, my new thinking is that each week, I need to spend the most time on the piece I like the least (so I can be sure to get it passed off!)

_________________________Ladies and Gentlemen: This is not a competition, merely an exhibition. No wagering please.